Balancing sticks



BALANCING STICKS Filed Sept. 21, 1938 I. I 3 Q Zhwentor E j Ole 0/5612 19 J attorney "elevation, with one of the Patented Aug. 1, 1939 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a game or toy attractive to children, by whichskill and dexterity, somewhat similar to those of a juggler, may be itacquired and displayed.

It is an object of the invention to provide such a game or toy which issimple and cheap to manufacture, suficiently rugged that it will notquickly be destroyed, and which will serve as a means I, of amusement tothe user.

My invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, and the principlesthereof will be readily understood from such drawing and from thisspecification, wherein the invention is shown and described in apreferred form, and the scope of my invention will be defined by theclaims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawing the invention has been shown with severalmodifications, all within the scope of my invention as hereinafterdefined.

Figure l is a perspective View, showing the parts of the game or toy andthe manner of their use.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the game pieces, shown in a position of use,and Figure 3 is an pieces shown in section.

Figure 4 is an elevation of a slightly modified form of one of thepieces, and Figure 5 is a similar view showing a further modified form.

There are two pieces employed which are entirely separate the one fromthe other. One of these is a striker stick, and the other is a balancingstick. The balancing stick I is of generally circular cross section, andconsiderably elongated; that is to say, its length is a number of timesany given diameter. While its cross section is preferably circular, itmay be polygonal, throughout a part or all of its length, so long as itscross section is approximately circular. Preferably, instead of being ofuniform diameter and cross section throughout, its mid-point I9 is ofthe least diameter, and from this mid-point it extends to enlarged endsH and I2, which are alike. Preferably the taper is uniform throughoutits length each way from the mid-point l5. Thus it tends to balance,statically and dynamically, about this mid-point. Such a balancing stickmay conveniently be made of Wood.

The striker stick 2 is of convenient length, formed with a handle 20' atone end, and outside of this handle it is preferably somewhat flexible.Its upper surface should be substantially fiat, and I prefer that itsextreme tip 2| be curved upward somewhat. Like the balancing stick I thestriker stick 2 may conveniently be formed of wood, its

flexibility being achieved by making it, outside of the handle, ofcomparatively thin section, and employing the natural resilience of thewood.

Its handle may be Wrapped to afford a convenient grip, and its outer orstriking portion may also 5 be Wrapped or otherwise coated with africtional material, as indicated at 22.

Further in order to assure good frictional engagement between thestriker portion of the striker stick 2 and the struck portion of theball0 ancing stick I, the surface of either or both may be roughened orcoated with frictional material, for instance the reduced centralportion at least of the balancing stick may be covered with a varnish orthe like having a tendency to remain slightly tacky. A similarexpedientmay be employed in addition to or as a substitute for the wrapping at22.

The user with his right hand grasps the striker stick 2 by its handle,and places the balancing stick I on top of the outer or distant portionof the striker stick, with its reduced mid-portion l0 resting upon thestriker stick, and with the length of the balancing stick at an acuteangle to the length of the striker stick, substantially as shown in fulllines in Figure 1. The balancing stick I is now twirled by the left handof the user in the direction of the arrow A, the user simultaneouslyurging the balancing stick somewhat upwardly by the use of the strikerstick, and drawing the latter somewhat inwardly in the direction of thearrow B. The balancing stick begins to twirl about a vertical axisthrough its mid-point l0, and also, by reason of the movement of thestriker stick in the direction of the arrow B, it commences to rotateabout its own axis in the direction of the arrow C, as it is thrownupward in the air by the upward movement of the striker stick. As itrotates through the dash line position of Figure 1, and, falling, againapproaches the full line position, but with the ends H and I2 reversed,it is again struck by the striker stick in the same manner, lifting itupwardly and tending to rotate it about its own axis andto twirl aboutthe vertical axis more rapidly. By reason of the fact that the stick Iis tapered, and the stick 2 is flat, the left and right edges of thestriker stick bear along the incline of the balancing stick 2, atopposite sides of the latters mid-point, and this engagement tends tocontinue the twirling of the balancing stick about the vertical axisthrough its mid-point. The result is that the balancing stick is causedto continue to twirl and to rotate about its own axis, and the player,by a skill of manipulation that is not difficult to acquire, can

cause this twirling and rotating action to continue for a considerableperiod of time.

The maintenance of the balancing stick in a horizontal plane, as ittwirls about the vertical axis, even though it may not be struck whollyaccurately, is assisted by the gyroscopic effect imparted to it by itsrotation about its own axis, and arising in part by reason of theenlargement of its ends. Also, the faster it twirls, the less likely isit to be disturbed by an inaccurate impulse. Indeed, these effects, andespecially the gyroscopic effect of rotation about its own axis, may beheightened by increasing the taper of the stick I, as shown in Figure 4,thus placing a larger part of the mass of the stick at a greaterdistance from the center of rotation about its own axis, and increasingthe relative angle of inclination between the balancing stick and theedges of the striker stick. It may also be heightened, as in Figure 5,by adding masses 3 as circular rings about the ends of the stick I,these masses being an appreciable part of the total weight of the stickand acting as gyroscopes to maintain the stick rotating in a horizontalplane, notwithstanding that it may be twirling also about a verticalaxis through its mid-point. A like effect might be achieved by makingthe balancing stick hollow.

A player may accomplish a variety of movements with such game pieces.The twirling balancing stick I may be thrown upward to a considerabledistance and caught again as it descends, and meanwhile it may twirlthrough several revolutions while free in the air, and its twirling androtation may be continued and accelerated as it is again struck andthrown upward. It may be tossed, twirling and rotating, from one playerto another, each having a striker stick. The flexibility of the strikerstick assists, not only in insuring frictional engagement between thetwo sticks for an appreciable time interval, as both move upwardlyacceleratedly, in contact, but also in reacting somewhat as a whip tothrow the balancing stick upward, and

to give it an added impulse to twirl and to rotate.

The upturn of the end 2| also assists in attaining these ends. The gameor toy will be found amusing, and will assist the user in acquiring askill of manipulation which will be interesting 0 and amusing.

1. A game or toy comprising a striker stick and a balancing stick, thebalancing stick being substantially circular in cross-section, and ofsmaller diameter at its center than at its ends, whereby whenmanipulated by the striker stick it may be twirled end for end in ahorizontal plane, and rotated about its own axis, and the striker stickbeing substantially flat and tacky on its upper surface, and flexible.

2. A game or toy comprising a striker stick and a balancing stick, thebalancing stick being substantially circular in cross section, and ofsmaller diameter at its center than at its ends, whereby whenmanipulated by the striker stick it may be twirled end for end in ahorizontal plane, and rotated about its own axis, and the striker stickbeing substantially flat on its upper surface, and formed as a handle atone end, the striker stick being somewhat flexible, outside of thehandle, and slightly upwardly curved at its tip, distant from thehandle, and its flat surface having a frictional surfacing to improveits grip on the surface of the balancing stick.

3. A game or toy comprising a balancing stick of substantially circularcross section, tapering from a reduced diameter midway between its endsuniformly to enlarged diameters at its ends, and of a length equal toseveral times its greatest diameter, and masses circularly disposedabout its ends to increase its gyroscopic balance when rotating on itsown axis, and a separate striker stick with which to strike thebalancing stick from below, adjacent its middle, to effect suchrotation.

4. A game or toy comprising a balancing stick of substantially circularcross section, tapering from a reduced diameter midway between its endsuniformly to enlarged diameters at its ends, and of a length equal toseveral times its greatest diameter, and masses circularly disposedabout its ends to increase its gyroscopic balance when rotating on itsown axis, and a separate striker stick with which to strike thebalancing stick from below, adjacent its middle, to effect suchrotation, and to twirl the balancing stick end for end in a horizontalplant, the engaging surfaces of the sticks having frictional surfacesfor increasing the frictional pull of one upon the other.

OLE OLSEN.

